Governor Phil Scott has appointed Nancy Brooks of St. Albans to serve on the Vermont Commission on Women (VCW), the state’s non-partisan commission working to advance rights and opportunities for women and girls.

Ms. Brooks is a graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and completed specialized training in Champlain College’s Digital Editing program.   Her career has included leadership positions in both public service and in the private sector.

The Senate Committee on Committees has appointed Erica Hare of Berlin to serve a four-year term on the Vermont Commission on Women.

Ms. Hare is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and the Stern School of Business at New York University. A dedicated nonprofit leader, Ms. Hare spent her early career managing financial and administrative operations at several Academic Medical Centers in her native New York City.

(Via Attorney General's Office) Attorney General T.J. Donovan released a video guidance today aimed at assisting Vermont employers in understanding workplace sexual harassment laws.  The video, entitled Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, provides businesses with an overview of Vermont’s current workplace sexual harassment laws and summarizes employers’ obligations under the law.  A complete copy of the video can be found here: https://youtu.be/smi28L751Es.

Lisa Senecal of Stowe is now Chair of the Vermont Commission on Women (VCW), an independent non-partisan state government commission dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls.

Ms. Senecal, elected unanimously, takes the helm from Marcia Merrill of Jericho.  Ms. Merrill steps down after ten years, leading the only entity in Vermont expressly considering broad implications of state policy and budget priorities for women in our state.  

Are you a trainer or advisor on workplace equity and inclusivity issues in our state, or have you worked with one?  What trainings would be most helpful in your workplace?

AAUW Bennington Branch: Celebrate Advances in Pay Equity

VCW's Cary Brown with partner initiative Change The Story's Tiffany Bluemle, take a deeper look into Bloomberg News ranking VT best state for gender equality based on five categories, including pay ratio by gender, female labor force participation, college degree attainment, health care coverage and women in poverty.   What is progress? Who is getting left behind? Can we set the bar higher?

Read this April 9th VTDigger opinion editorial.
 

Sharing Governor Scott's press release, 02 April 2019

Governor Phil Scott today signed a proclamation recognizing April 2, 2019 as Equal Pay Day in Vermont, highlighting the gender pay gap between men and women’s earnings and the importance of promoting women’s equality in the workforce.

The Senate Committee on Committees has appointed Lisa Ryan of Rutland to serve on the Vermont Commission on Women.

Lisa Ryan is the Program Manager of the Rutland County Community Justice Center at BROC Community Action, where she provides restorative justice practices, including Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) and Restorative Circles, to the offender population.  This work involves addressing crime and conflict through dispute resolution, training community volunteers, and overseeing reentry and reparative programs.

Vermont Department of Libraries presents another speaker for the state employee speaker series "Tuesday Talks." This month the event will be on February 19 from 12-1pm at the Pavilion Auditorium in Montpelier.  The topic will be "Vermont Women: The Pay Gap, Representation, and Advancement" and the speaker will be Cary Brown from the Vermont Commission on Women.